Prickly Heath vs small tortoiseshell

Gaultheria mucronata compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• Prickly Heath is Not Evaluated while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Prickly Heath	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Ericales (Ericales)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Ericaceae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Gaultheria	Aglais
Species	Gaultheria mucronata	Aglais urticae

Conservation Status

Prickly Heath

NE — Not Evaluated

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Prickly Heath	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Prickly Heath

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

small tortoiseshell

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (41 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

small tortoiseshell

small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇮🇪 Ireland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇬🇧 United Kingdom